


Hoarding love

by AliaMael



Series: The fluffiest dragon hoard [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Fluff, Other, Slice of Life, Teratophilia, This is honestly just cuteness piled on more cuteness, dragon - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-16 12:03:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16953645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliaMael/pseuds/AliaMael
Summary: It always feels good to meet someone who shares your passion. The fact that you're not used to see cute men being so fond of stuffed animals makes it even better.





	Hoarding love

You hum happily under your breath, checking the new arrivals. You love coming into this shop. They have the best fabric, a large choice of sewing threads, cute buttons and so many doll eyes you never know how to choose. Good thing you can buy what you want, given that it’s your job to sew stuffed animals and other plushies! You’re almost friend with the salespersons now and they know to let you look around alone first, waiting for you to come to them with questions.

You already have several synthetic fur fabrics on the growing list you keep in your hand, and you wander over to the threads display, looking for the perfect colors to complement the fabrics. You’re jotting down the references for a bunch of threads when you hear someone shyly call you.

“Errr… Excuse me?”

You turn around to face a tall man, muscular but lean, with the bluest eyes you’ve ever seen, and long silver hair. Not grey. Pure silver, shining in the light. He’s a bit otherworldly, and he could easily be intimidating, but… He stands here, looking unsure, a battered plushie clutched against his heart, and… yes, this is a long bit of bright pink thread stuck in his hair. It’s actually cute.

“Yeah, can I help you?” you ask.

He seems relieved to hear your answer and comes a little closer.

“Yes, please… I’m looking for the right color to patch her up but I’m not sure… What do you think?”

He shows you three threads, in slightly different colors. You squint at them.

“Can I look closer at your… patient?” you ask with a smile.

He holds tighter on his plushie and you think he’s going to flat out refuse, but then he slowly extends his arm, bringing the poor toy closer to you. He’s obviously nervous, so you refrain from touching it, but you put the threads next to it to compare the colors.

“I’d personally go with this one,” you answer eventually.

“Thank you!”

He puts the other two back to their rightful places, and looks back at you, embarrassed.

“Could you… tell me where are the doll eyes? Please?”

You look at his plushie and see it only has one left.

“They’re over there,” you point, “but if you need a matching one for your toy, I’m afraid they don’t have it anymore.”

He looks heartbroken at that, and you take pity of him. Someone who cares that much about an old plushie deserves all your help.

“I may still have some at my shop,” you add. “If you’re okay with waiting for me to finish here, you can come with me to check.”

He lights up like you just announced it was Christmas.

“Yes, please!”

You smile. His enthusiasm is refreshing. He follows you to the doll eyes section, and after a while relaxes enough around you to start giving suggestions. You end up really enjoying the discussion. He’s very knowledgeable about sewed toys and you understand that he often gets to patch some up. You wonder why, but don’t ask. You don’t want to pry.

After you pay for your purchase, he helps you with the heavy bags of fabric, and you walk back to your shop. It’s where you sell your plushies, but also where you craft them. You love working surrounded by all your previous creations, and customers are often curious to see your process. It’s a win-win.

You unlock the door and make the man enter. It’s dark inside with the blinds down, but your hurry to lift them up, letting the light in and allowing the passers-by to see your toys through the large window.

When you turn to face your visitor, you find him frozen in place, apparently in shock. Only his eyes are moving, jumping from a shelf to another, frantic.

“Sir? Are you alright?” you ask eventually.

He jumps, looks at you for a second or two, then runs away. Literally.

You stare after him, bewildered. What the heck just happened? You try to shrug it off, but you’re a bit sad. You really wanted to find him the replacement eye he needed. You stumble upon the right one while putting away your new materials. You put it on your work table. Maybe he’ll come back?

You set up working on a new plushie, and soon the smile is back on your face. You really love creating toys. It fills you with joy, and you’re always delighted to be able to pass on happiness to the people adopting your creations. Clients come and go, the hours pass, and you’re persuaded the weird silver-haired man won’t come back when the door almost bangs open. You look up and it’s him. He still has the same battered plushie in his arms but now his hair looks like he hiked through a tornado. He runs to your work table and puts a large pouch on it.

“I buy. All,” he says.

You blink, unsure you understand. With each passing second, he looks more nervous. He starts biting on his lip, and you catch the flick of…

“A tail…?” you cannot help but say out loud.

He pales and tries to hide it, but it’s too late. You’re sure you’ve seen a long reptilian tail wrapping around his legs. With silver scales, of course. When your eyes go back up to his face, you discover two small horns on his forehead. He seems about to start crying.

“What’s wrong?” you ask without thinking.

“I… you don’t want to sell me your plushies?” he asks.

“Wait, you want to buy all the toys in here?”

He shyly nods.

“They’re so perfect…” he adds dreamily.

You cannot refrain from asking any longer.

“What are you exactly?”

He takes a small step back, uneasy.

“You won’t want to sell me anything if I tell you…” he whines.

You smile.

“I can already see that you’re not human,” you point out. “How worse can it be?”

He visibly hesitates, then carefully sits his plushie on the closer shelf. His whole body gets blurred, and then he’s not human at all anymore. Your jaw fall.

Your first thought is “feline”. Big feline. The size of a pony. But he’s obviously something else. His tail looks more like a lizard’s. His neck is longer, his face more elongated. He has small horns between very cat-like ears, and a silvery mane. Flat along his back, you can see bat-like wings, translucent but shining blue. He’s covered in silver scales. Only his blue eyes are still the same.

“You… you are a dragon…” you whisper.

You hear his voice directly inside your head.

*Yes, I am…*

He sounds afraid. You want to reassure him. He’s the most fascinating creature you’ve ever seen, and… well, he’s beautiful. You walk closer to him; he watches you, worried, but let you touch his neck. He’s warm, and surprisingly soft. You thread your fingers through his mane, then try to scratch him behind his ears. He purrs and pushes gently against your hand.

“Are you sure you’re not a big cat?” you ask without stopping to pet him.

Even with his inhuman features, it’s obvious he’s pouting. It’s adorable.

*So, can I get your plushies?* he asks, full of hope.

“Do you hoard them?”

He nods.

*I don’t care about mass produced toys,* he explains. *I only hoard those who have a soul. Most of the time it means second hand plushies, because they’ve been loved so much that it gave them a soul… But yours, they are…*

He trails off.

“They are?”

*They’re so perfect! Beautiful, and cute, and they radiate love! I want them all!*

You don’t know what to answer to that, but you feel yourself blush at the compliment.

*I’ll pay, of course…* he insists, worried.

“It's… it’s really flattering, but it’s so sudden… I mean, that would mean closing the shop because I wouldn’t have anything to show and sell anymore…”

*I understand…*

He sounds dejected.

“I need to think about it,” you quickly add. “I’m not saying no, but I need more time OK?”

*Really?*

“Really. And in the meantime, look, I’ve found the perfect match for your missing eye.”

He blurs again and you suddenly find yourself in a tight hug, almost losing your footing. He’s back to a mostly human shape, but he still has the tail, the wings, the horns and the scales. It’s a better look on him that fully human.

“Thank you thank you thank you!” he exclaims. “You’re so nice!”

You smile, and hug him back.

“You’re welcome.”

“I’m so happy I met you!” he goes on, rubbing his cheek against your hair.

You giggle.

“I’m glad we met too,” you confess. “I’m pretty sure we could be great friends.”

He looks at you with wonder, and you can’t help but think that if he goes on being that cute and lovable, you could very well end up something else than friends…


End file.
